Causes of congenital corneal opacities and their management in a tertiary care center.

PURPOSE: To evaluate causes and management of congenital corneal opacities (CCO) diagnosed in a tertiary care eye center and to compare the data with a previous study at the same institution. METHODS: Computerized medical records in all patients with congenital corneal opacities diagnosed in the Cornea Service at Wills Eye Hospital (Philadelphia, PA) between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2015, were retrospectively reviewed. Children aged 12 years and younger at the first visit were included in the study. Patients\u27 demographics, ocular diagnosis, laterality, associated ocular abnormalities, other ocular surgery performed prior or subsequent to the first visit, and their treatment were extracted from the medical records. RESULTS: A total of 77 eyes in 56 patients were examined. The mean age at presentation was 32.8 ± 44.2 months, with the mean follow-up period of 26.7 ± 30.1 months. The most frequent diagnosis was Peters anomaly (53.2%), followed by limbal dermoid (13.0%), aniridia with glaucoma and microphthalmos (6.5%), sclerocornea and congenital glaucoma (5.2%), idiopathic (3.9%), Axenfeld-Rieger anomaly and Hurler syndrome (2.6%), and microcornea (1.3%). Primary keratoplasty was performed in 26 eyes, with the outcome rate in the clear cornea of 76.0% during the follow-up. CONCLUSION: Peters anomaly is the most common cause of congenital corneal opacities encountered at our institution. Penetrating keratoplasty is the most frequent choice of corneal surgery to treat congenital corneal opacities. Additional interventions during penetrating keratoplasty were moderately positively correlated with graft failure. This study also shows the rates of some etiologies of that changed over the recent decades in our tertiary care Cornea Service. Although Peters anomaly remains the most common presenting reason for congenital corneal opacities, its rate appears to be increasing over the recent decade. Congenital corneal opacities due to birth trauma, which is one of the preventable causes, were observed in a previous study in our clinic; however, no new cases were noted in this study

Anterior Chamber Characteristics, Endothelial Parameters, and Corneal Densitometry After Descemet Stripping Automated Endothelial Keratoplasty in Patients With Fuchs Dystrophy

Purpose: To compare anterior segment parameters in patients with Fuchs endothelial dystrophy (FED) who underwent Descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) in one eye and no corneal surgery in the fellow eye. Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 28 eyes of 14 patients with FED who underwent DSAEK in one eye at least one year prior (DSAEK group) and no corneal surgery in the fellow eye (control group). Each eye was analyzed with the anterior segment optical coherence tomography, specular microscopy, and Scheimpflug imaging systems. Data were compared between the two groups. Results: The mean age of the patients was 76.9 ± 7.0 years. There were no statistically significant differences in the mean central corneal thickness (CCT), central anterior chamber depth, anterior chamber angle parameters, cylinder and keratometry values between two groups (all P-values > 0.05). The paracentral corneal thickness, corneal volume, endothelial cell density, and hexagonal cell ratio measurements were statistically significantly higher in the DSAEK group than the control (all P-values < 0.05), and anterior chamber volume in the DSAEK group was significantly less than the control (P = 0.046). While posterior and total corneal densitometry values in the DSAEK group were statistically significantly lower than the control (P < 0.001 and P = 0.011, respectively), there were no statistically significant differences in the anterior or middle corneal densities (P = 0.108 and P = 0.134, respectively). Conclusion: We found that total corneal densitometry value decreased in DSAEK group. Although DSAEK surgery did not affect the anterior chamber angle parameters, it reduced the anterior chamber volume and increased the corneal volume and paracentral corneal thickness due to the addition of the DSAEK graft

Dye lasing in optically manipulated liquid aerosols

We report lasing in airborne, rhodamine B-doped glycerol-water droplets with diameters ranging between 7.7 and 11.0 mu m, which were localized using optical tweezers. While being trapped near the focal point of an infrared laser, the droplets were pumped with a Q-switched green laser. Our experiments revealed nonlinear dependence of the intensity of the droplet whispering gallery modes (WGMs) on the pump laser fluence, indicating dye lasing. The average wavelength of the lasing WGMs could be tuned between 600 and 630 nm by changing the droplet size. These results may lead to new ways of probing airborne particles, exploiting the high sensitivity of stimulated emission to small perturbations in the droplet laser cavity and the gain medium

Adjustment to colostomy: stoma acceptance, stoma care self-efficacy and interpersonal relationships

‘The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com.’ Copyright Blackwell Publishing. DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.2007.04446.xThis paper is a report of a study to examine adjustment and its relationship with stoma acceptance and social interaction, and the link between stoma care self-efficacy and adjustment in the presence of acceptance and social interactions.Peer reviewe

Self organized formation of unidirectional and quasi one dimensional metallic Tb silicide nanowires on Si 110

Terbium induced nanostructures on Si and their growth are thoroughly characterized by low energy electron diffraction, scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy, core level and valence band photoelectron spectroscopy, and angle resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. For low Tb coverage, a wetting layer forms with its surface fraction continuously decreasing with increasing Tb coverage in favor of the formation of unidirectional Tb silicide nanowires. These nanowires show high aspect ratios for high annealing temperatures or on substrates already containing Tb in the bulk. Both wetting layer and nanowires are stable for temperatures up to . In contrast to the nanowires, the wetting layer is characterized by a band gap. Thus, the metallic nanowires, which show a quasi one dimensional electronic band structure, are embedded in a semiconducting surrounding of wetting layer and substrate, insulating the nanowires from each othe

Severe Paediatric Asthma Collaborative in Europe (SPACE):protocol for a European registry

The development of new asthma biologics and receptor blockers for the treatment of paediatric severe asthma raises challenges. It is unclear whether there are sufficient children in Europe to recruit into randomised placebo-controlled trials to establish efficacy and safety in this age group. In February 2016, the European Respiratory Society funded a clinical research collaboration entitled “Severe Paediatric Asthma Collaborative in Europe” (SPACE). We now report the SPACE protocol for a prospective pan-European observational study of paediatric severe asthma. Inclusion criteria are: 1) age 6–17 years, 2) severe asthma managed at a specialised centre for ≥6 months, 3)clinical and spirometry evidence of asthma, and 4) reaching a pre-defined treatment threshold. The exclusion criterion is the presence of conditions which mimic asthma symptoms. Eligible children will be prospectively recruited into a registry, recording demographics, comorbidities, quality of life, family history, neonatal history, smoking history, asthma background, investigations, and treatment. Follow-up will provide longitudinal data on asthma control and treatment changes. The SPACE registry, by identifying well-phenotyped children eligible for clinical trials, and the amount of overlap in eligibility criteria, will inform the design of European trials in paediatric severe asthma, and facilitate observational research where data from single centres are limited

Molecular Characterization of Rotavirus Gastroenteritis Strains, Iraqi Kurdistan

Of 260 children with acute diarrhea in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, 96 (37%) were infected with rotavirus. Reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction identified G1, G4, G2, G9, P[8], P[6], and P[4] as the most common genotypes. Eight G/P combinations were found, but P[8]G1 and P[4]G2 accounted for >50% of the strains

Clinical efficacy and satisfaction of a digital wheeze detector in a multicentre randomised controlled trial: the WheezeScan study.

INTRODUCTION: Wheezing is common in preschool children and its clinical assessment often challenging for caretakers. This study aims to evaluate the impact of a novel digital wheeze detector (WheezeScan™) on disease control in a home care setting. METHODS: A multicentre randomised open-label controlled trial was conducted in Berlin, Istanbul and London. Participants aged 4-84 months with a doctor's diagnosis of recurrent wheezing in the past 12 months were included. While the control group followed usual care, the intervention group received the WheezeScan™ for at-home use for 120 days. Parents completed questionnaires regarding their child's respiratory symptoms, disease-related and parental quality of life, and caretaker self-efficacy at baseline (T0), 90 days (T1) and 4 months (T2). RESULTS: A total of 167 children, with a mean±sd age of 3.2±1.6 years, were enrolled in the study (intervention group n=87; control group n=80). There was no statistically significant difference in wheeze control assessed by TRACK (mean difference 3.8, 95% CI -2.3-9.9; p=0.2) at T1 between treatment groups (primary outcome). Children's and parental quality of life and parental self-efficacy were comparable between both groups at T1. The evaluation of device usability and perception showed that parents found it useful. CONCLUSION: In the current study population, the wheeze detector did not show significant impact on the home management of preschool wheezing. Hence, further research is needed to better understand how the perception and usage behaviour may influence the clinical impact of a digital support

Recurrent post-partum coronary artery dissection

Coronary artery dissection is a rare but well-described cause for myocardial infarction during the post-partum period. Dissection of multiple coronary arteries is even less frequent. Here we present a case of recurrent post-partum coronary artery dissections. This unusual presentation poses unique problems for management. A 35 year-old female, gravida 3 para 2, presented with myocardial infarction 9 weeks and 3 days post-partum. Cardiac catheterization demonstrated left anterior descending (LAD) dissection but an otherwise normal coronary anatomy. The lesion was treated with four everolimus eluting stents. Initially the patient made an unremarkable recovery until ventricular fibrillation arrest occurred on the following day. Unsynchronized cardioversion restored a normal sinus rhythm and repeat catheterization revealed new right coronary artery (RCA) dissection. A wire was passed distally, but it was unclear whether this was through the true or false lumen and no stents could be placed. However, improvement of distal RCA perfusion was noted on angiogram. Despite failure of interventional therapy the patient was therefore treated conservatively. Early operation after myocardial infarction has a significantly elevated risk of mortality and the initial dissection had occurred within 24 hours. This strategy proved successful as follow-up transthoracic echocardiography after four months demonstrated a preserved left ventricular ejection fraction of 55-60% without regional wall motion abnormalities. The patient remained asymptomatic from a cardiac point of view